A lot of people associate all of autism with a film from the 1980s called Rain Man, in which Dustin Hoffman played an autistic individual who still had some ability to function in the world of “normal” people. While people who are of a neurotypical bent often perceive all people with autism as being able to do one thing well but as having no further use, the story itself is what too many people forget. And while the connection is somewhat tenuous, Asperger’s Syndrome is another type of autism altogether, and deserves to be known for what it is. Too many people will only know it for how it manifests in some people.

Some Aspies (as people with Asperger’s Syndrome, or AS often call themselves) are essentially whiny, socially incompetent people who assume that the world exists only to bend to their whims and their highly specific, often boring interests. And since the writer of this article is also an Aspie, it is with unfortunate authority that such a statement can be made in full truth and seriousness. The fact is, Asperger’s Syndrome is not an excuse for bad behavior, but is a cause for a sort of self aggrandizing irritation with the world.

In a nutshell, Asperger’s Syndrome can be described as the inability to read the mannerisms and social intent of other people. This issue, in combination with tendencies to become obsessed with a particular interest (and think about it obsessively), form emotional connections with objects instead of people, and trust too easily because of an inability to spot dishonorable intent, are reasons why Aspies often find themselves marginalized to the outskirts of the society in which they live. While this turns many of them into whiners, it turns many others of them into high achievers in their respective fields.